Control arrangement for circuit breakers



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Feb. 5, 1946 M. J. BROWN EI'AL 2,394,039

CONTROL ARRANGEMENT FOR CIRCUIT BREAKERS Filed July 11 1942 WITNESSES: INVENTORS ATTORNES Patented Feb. 5, 1946 CONTRQL ARRANGEMENT FOR CIRCUIT BREAKERS Myron J. Brown, Forest Hills, and William R.

Tnliaferro, 'Edgewood, Pa., .assignors to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, East Pittsburgh, Pin, a corporation .of Pennsylvania Applicationiluly 11, 1942, Serial No. 450,512

.3 Claims.

Our invention relates .to control arrangements for circuit interrupters and, in particular, relates to arrangements for energizing the closing solenoid of circuit interru-pters taking power from direct-current sources, and doing so in such a manner that pumping, that is to say,.repeated successive closures and reopenings of the circuit breaker, is prevented even though there is an overload on the line which the circuit breaker supplies.

It is usual in the electrical art to provide circuit breakers with electrical arrangements operated by a small control switch from some distant point which are capable of moving the circuit breaker to closed-circuit position. In one of the best known arrangements of this type, the movable arm of the circuit breaker is moved to closed-circuit position by the magnetic core of a solenoid, the winding of which is supplied with current from a direct-current source under control of a small manually-operated closing switch. Such circuit breakers are usually also provided with an automatic relay system which trips them to open-circuit position, usually by releasing a latch or by breaking a toggle .in a mechanical linkage, when there is an overload on the line which they supply. If, after being tripped open by such an overload, the small control switch is closed, the circuitbreaker is moved again to circuit-closing position by the solenoid above .mentioned. Now, if the fault which caused the original overload persists on the line, the overload relays will again trip the circuit'breaker to opencircuit position.

'It frequently happens that the person operating the small control switch will hold it in circuitclosing operation until after the circuit breaker has thus tripped out for the second time; and unless preventive means are provided, the closing solenoid will again reclose the circuit'breaker. This cycle of alternate opening and closing of the circuit breaker may continue for a considerable time, and is well known in the art as pumping. For obvious reasons of wear and tear on the circuit breaker mechanism, it is undesirable that pumping" should be permitted. Our invention herein disclosed concerns a circuit arrangement employing an electrical discharge tube, for instance one of the type well knownin the art under the term fignitronf for operating the closing solenoid of a circuit breaker and preventing pumping.

One object of our invention is, accordingly, to provide a circuit for energizing the closing coil of a circuit breaker by means of a small control switch, while at the same time insuring that the maintenance of the control switch in closed position will not result in repeated successive energizations of the closing solenoid,

Another object of our invention is to provide a circuit for energizing the solenoid from a direct-current source through an electrical discharge device having a control electrode energized'by a small control switch.

Another object of our invention is toprovide a circuit breaker which is controlled by a tripping relay and is moved to closed-circuit position by energization of a closing solenoid with control arrangements which shall insure against "pumping." e

Other objects of our invention willbecome apparent upon reading the following specification, taken in connection with the drawing in which the single figure illustrates schematically a circuit interrupter provided with the control arrangements of our invention.

Referring in detail to the drawing, a circuit interrupter I, which may be of any conventiona1 type but fis'here shown as comprising a single ,pole, is arranged to open and close the circuit of an electric supply line 12. '.The circuit breaker I may be biased to open-circuit position by any suitable means, such as the bias 3, and is arranged ito'be moved to closed-circuit position by .a magnetic core 4 \which is attracted 'by energiza- 'tion of a closing solenoid 5. Such arrangements are well known in the art and require no .de-

tailed description here. The solenoid 5 .is energized .from a direct-current line 6, I throughan electrical discharge tube 8 of the control-electrode type, hereshownior purposes of illustration as an ignitron; that is to say, as a tube having a solid anode 9 connected to the positiveline wire .6 and a mercury cathode ll into which dips .anigniter electrode 12. When the anode .9 has a suitable positive voltage impressed upon .it relative to the cathode .1], tube 8 will, in general, remain non-conductive until a substantial current flows through the igniter electrode I2. When a pulse of current, preferably of considerable instantaneous magnitude, is caused to flow through theigniter electrode .l 2, an arc is started between the anode Sand thecathode II I and continues to flow until the voltage of the anode 9 relative to the cathode l I sinks below arelatively small critical value.

Under normal conditions, when the circuit breaker 1 stands either in open-circuitorclosedcircuit position, no current flows through either the tube 8 or the solenoid 5 because the igniter electrode I2 is maintained deenergized by a small control switch I3 which is in series with it. If at any time it is desired to energize the solenoid to move the circuit breaker I to closed-circuit position, the switch I3 is depressed to bridge its contacts. It will be seen that, when the tube 8 is conductive to current, there is a path for current flow through solenoid 5 from the line wire 6, thence from the anode 9 to the cathode H of the tube 8 and back to the line wire I.

Across the lines 6, I are connected in series a resistor I4 and a capacitor l5, and the common junction of these two elements is connected to one terminal of the control switch I3. As long as the switch I3 is in its normal open-circuit position, the capacitor I5 is maintained charged to the potential of lines 6, I by charge which has flowed to it through the resistor I4. Under these conditions, closure of the switch I3 will result in discharge of the capacitor I5 through the small resistor I5 and the igniter electrode I2, and this is arranged to suiiice to render the tube 8 conductive to current flow from its anode 9 to its cathode II. The last-mentioned current flow sufiiciently energizes the solenoid 5 to move the circuit breaker I to its closed-circuit position.

The mechanism of the circuit breaker I is provided with a pair of contacts [1, I8 which remain open while the circuit breaker I is opened, but are closed by movement of the latter to its closed-circuit position. The respective contacts II, I8 are connected to bridge the capacitor I5 so that the latter is completely discharged and so maintained as long as the circuit breaker I remains closed. The mechanism of circuit breaker I is likewise provided with a second pair of auxiliary contacts I9, 2I which are maintained in open-circuit position as long as the circuit breaker I is opened, but are closed when the circuit breaker is moved to closed-circuit position. One of the contacts I9 is connected to the negative line wire I, while the other is connected through a resistor 22 to one terminal of a capacitor 23, the other terminal of the capacitor 23 being connected to the anode 9 of the tube 8. A resistor 24 connects the common junction of the resistor 22 and capacitor 23 with the positive terminal 6 of the supply line. Since the inductance of the solenoid 5 may be relatively high and this might delay current rise through the tube 8 so long after energization of the igniter I2 that the latter would have lost its ionizing power before substantial current flow had time to occur through the tube 8, a resistor 25 is bridged across the terminals of the solenoid 5 to insure that sufficient current can flow between the anode and cathode II of the tube 8 to thoroughly ionize the latter just as soon as manual switch I3 is operated. The circuit breaker I is arranged to be held in closed-circuit position by a latch 34 which can be released by a solenoid 33 when energized through switch 32 by an overload relay 3I energized by over-current in line 2.

The mode of operation of the above-described arrangement will, it is believed, now be readily apparent. Whenever the circuit breaker I is standing open, closure of manual switch I3 will discharge condenser I5 through igniter electrode I2 and render the tube 8 conductive to current flow through the solenoid 5 and its bridging resistor 25 from the positive terminal 6 to the negative terminal I of the direct-current circuit. Current flow through the solenoid 5 will move the circuit breaker I to its closed-circuit position, at the same time bridging the contacts I1, I8 and I9, 2I. The bridging of the contacts II, I8 discharges the condenser I5, thereby preventing reenergizatlon of the igniter electrode I2, even though the manual switch be closed, at any time while the circuit breaker I remains in its closed-circuit position.

While the contacts I9, 2| stand in their normal open position before closure of the circuit breaker I, the capacitor 23 is charged up with its lower terminal positive and its upper terminal negative by current flow through the resistor 24, capacitor 23, and the arc discharge through the tube 8. The resistor 24 is made small enough so that capacitor 23 charges nearly to voltage of lines 6, I while the circuit breaker is moving to closed position. However, as soon as the closure of circuit breaker I bridges the contacts I8, 2I, the capacitor 23 is suddenly bridged directly between the anode 9 and cathode II of the tube 8, and it will be noted that the charge on the capacitor 23 is such as to render the cathode II' of tube 8 positive relative to the anode 9 thereof. The resistor 22 is made small enough so that this immediately reduces the potential oi. the anode 3 relative to the cathode II far below the small positive value necessary to maintain current flow through the tube 8 and extinguishes the arc in the latter. Except for this action of the capacitor 23, it will be noted that the tendency of mercury arcs, such as that in the tube 8, to continue curernt flow as long as their anodes are slightly positive relative to their cathodes would result in the continual flow of a current from the source 6 through the solenoid 5 and the tube 8, thus wasting energy and overheating the solenoid 5 unnecessarily.

As has previously been pointed out, a circuit breaker like I is likel to be tripped out by the occurrence of an over-load on the line 2 which operates through one of the tripping relays well known in the art to move its mechanism to opencircuit position. If now an attendant closes the manual switch I3, the arrangement described in detail above will cause reclosure of the circuit breaker I. However, if the overload condition still persists on the line 2, the overload relay will again trip out the circuit breaker and move it to open-circuit position. If the attendant still maintains the manual switch closed, however, it will be impossible for the capacitor I5 to recharge substantially because the switch I3, the resistor I6 and the igniter I2 of the tube 8 virtually shortcircuit the capacitor I5. The value of the resistors I4 and I6 is made such that the current which will flow through resistor I4, manual switch I3, resistor I6 and igniter I2 is insufficient to ionize the space between the anode 9 and the cathode II of the tube 8. Hence current flow through the solenoid 5 will not be resumed and the circuit breaker will remain in its tripped position until such time as the manual switch I3 has been released and reclosed. Thus the arrangement above described prevents pumping of the circuit breaker I.

We claim as our invention:

1. In combination with a circuit interrupter. a source of direct-current energy, an ignitron having principal electrodes and an igniter electrode, a closing solenoid connected in series with said principal electrodes across said source, a resistor and a capacitor connected in series across said source, a, connection through an auxiliary switch from the common terminal of said resistor and said capacitor through the igniter electrode of said ignitron, a second capacitor and a resistor serially connected across said solenoid, a pair of contacts closed only when said circuit breaker is closed connected between the common terminal of said second capacitor and said resistor and the cathode of said ignitron, and a second pair of contacts which are closed only when said circuit breaker is closed connected in shunt with the first-mentioned capacitor.

2. In combination with a direct-current source, a solenoid winding connected in series with an electrical discharge tube having an anode, a cathode and a control electrode, the space between said anode and said cathode being rendered conductive only by current flow above a critical value to said control electrode, a first resistor and acapacitor connected in series across said source, an auxiliary switch and a second resistor connecting the common terminal of said first resistor and said capacitor with said control electrode, the value of said first resistor being so great as to prevent current from said source flowing through it serially to said control electrode rising to said critical value.

3. vIn combination with a direct-current source, a solenoid winding connected in series with an electrical discharge tube having an anode, a cathode and a control electrode, the space between said anode and said cathode being rendered conductive only by current flow above a critical value to said control electrode, a first, resistor and a capacitor connected in series across said source, an'auxiliary switch and a second resistor connecting the common terminal of said first resistor and said capacitor with said control electrode, the value of said first resistor being so great as to prevent current from said source flowing through it serially to said control electrode rising to said critical value, and the value of said second resistor and said capacitor being such that the discharge current passing through said second resistor in series with said control electrode is greater than said critical value when said capacitor is charged to the voltage of said source.

MYRON J. BROWN. WILLIAM R. TAIJAFERRO. 

